Why did the Phillyist cross the road? To get to... ANI DIFRANCO AT THE MANN CENTER She is Woman. She is also Musician and spoken-word poet. She's at the Mann Center tonight and you can still get tickets. She is Ani DiFranco. WHO: Anyone! WHERE: The Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Broad and Sansom Streets (map) WHEN: 8pm HOW MUCH: Prices vary, but the sooner you get 'em, the better. SWANWELDER, LANDSCAPE PAPERWEIGHT, HAPPY......

Dear Philadelphia: I have lived here now for nearly six years. I made it through four and a half without buying pepper spray, and only acquired one from a friend when a string of sexual assaults last fall were a little too close to home. It remains attached to my keychain, except for when it isn't: before shows at the Electric Factory or TLA, I make sure to detach it and leave it somewhere......

Senator Vincent Fumo was eating dinner at his Spring Garden home at 7PM last night when he started experiencing chest pains. He was taken by ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital where it was determined that he had suffered a heart attack and that his right coronary artery was 100 percent blocked. He had emergency surgery and remains in critical condition this morning, although he was alert and speaking with his family after the procedure. Hey,......

Sons of Ben and other Philly area soccer fans rejoice: the Inquirer says sources are telling them that "Major League Soccer is moving swiftly toward an agreement that will grant a long-sought expansion team to the Philadelphia region." Saint Joe's will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5PM today to officially open its new Hawks' Landing parking and retail facility at 54th and City Avenue. Hawks' Landing is a $19 million project that features a five-story,......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Mercy Blue: Mercy Blue, Somerset Project, Countervision and The Siren Thesis at the Khyber (56 S. 2nd), 8PM. $6 Nouveau Riche: Nouveau Riche, Tu Phace, and Patty Crash at Silk City (435 Spring Garden), 9PM. $5 Exercise Your Rights: Planning and instructional meeting for protesting the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis at LAVA Space (4134 Lancaster), 7PM. Free Organic Chemistry: The Schuylkill Center goes dowtown to celebrate an......

The last time I saw Cat Power perform was the first and only time I saw the entire Trocadero fall in love at once. Her voice and her persona could only be described as haunting yet powerful. Some people showed in the hopes that she'd fall apart, as she has been wont to do, but a lot happens in a decade. Much more centered by the time The Greatest dropped, Chan Marshall prowled the stage......

City Council members will review minority-inclusion plans today, which they demanded in December from the Building Trade unions. If they don't approve those plans today, it could jeopardize the financial viability of the whole Convention Center expansion project. Britt Reid is scheduled to be released from jail today. Next he'll be entering a drug court treatment program. The state House of Representatives could vote as early as today on legislation that would require all records......

OK, we'll admit, the title of this post is deliberately sensationalistic, but every part of it is true, in one way or another. Anyway, it got your attention, right? What we're talking about here is the Super Furry Animals/Holy Fuck show tomorrow night at the Starlight Ballroom. We're sure you've heard of twelve-year-old British indie weirdo band Super Furry Animals. But you might not know they're doing a pretty cool thing on this tour:......

Lots of changes in local political leadership today. The judges in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas will vote to elect a new president judge. In Montgomery County they'll be swearing in the winners of the November elections. And the same will be happening in Philadelphia today as Nutter comes in and Street goes out. The body of 50-year-old Cynthia Cometz of Woodstown was found inside a BMW that had been submerged in......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Try Not to Get Sick on Your Shoes: Positively Sick on South Street, featuring Jukebox Zeros, The Victims, and Women, all to the backdrop of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians at Tritone (1508 South), 9PM. $6 Philabundance Benefit: Featuring Lizanne Knot, John Conahan, the Hustle, and Kuf Knotz at Upstairs at World Café Live (3025 Walnut), 7PM. $8 + a canned good SATURDAY Could You Hold the......

As the weather gets yucky (this week's high temps will be at or near fifty, but we're looking at rain, rain, and more rain), I find myself reluctantly taking SEPTA more and more often, often during rush hour. Because I try to be a courteous SEPTA rider, I make a point of not putting my belongings on the seat beside me if the subway car, trolley, or bus seems to be getting crowded. I......

Tuesday The Academy of Vocal Arts opens its season with Mozart's witty and timeless Così fan tutte. Academy of Vocal Arts (19th and Spruce); 7:30 PM; $48 Yo-Yo Ma comes to the Kimmel Center with Kathryn Stott, piano for an evening of Schubert, Shostakovich, Piazzola, Gismonti and Franck. Verizon Hall (Kimmel Cetner); 8 PM; $38-$94 Thursday Temple University faculty members Lawrence Wagner, clarinet, Jeffrey Solow, cello, and Charles Abramovic, piano give a concert of......

We kind of love the Edgar Allan Poe House on 7th and Spring Garden, where the writer lived from 1838-1844. We love it because some of our favorite pieces of his work, including Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, were published while he lived there. We love it because it means we can claim Poe as a native son. And we love it for being completely empty. (So! Creepy!) Tomorrow, there's another reason to......

Due to the fact that owners and players were not able to resolve a long-standing labor dispute, the 2008 National Lacrosse League season was canceled yesterday. A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Wings said its 5,000 season-ticket holders would receive full refunds and could expect a communication today. A Scranton woman has been cited for disorderly conduct for shouting profanities at her overflowing toilet. Apparently she was yelling near an open window, and her neighbor (an......

Edward Pettit wrote an enlightening cover story for this week's edition of the City Paper, proposing the relocation of Edgar Allan Poe's grave site to our fine city. The old chap lived here for six tumultuous years. He wrote here, drank here, and likely enjoyed the more potent aspects of the poppy seed here, too. Pettit's argument is lucid and informative and we would love to see Poe's return. However, there is little to suggest......

Monday As part of the Music and Conversation series, Andrea Ceccomori and Elitza Harbova will perform and discuss works for flute and piano by living Italian and American composers. Roberts Hall (Haverford College); 4:15 PM; FREE Tuesday The Philly Orchestra continues its run of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, now paired with works by Rihm and Reinecke. Check out Phillyist's review here. Verizon Hall (Kimmel Center); 8 PM; $38-$113 Friday As part of the Last......

A little Philly celebrity news: 50 Cent was in town earlier this week. Click through for details and pictures. Earlier this spring, when the whole thing came out about the Philadelphia School District's budget problems, their chief financial officer and budget overseer resigned. But it's just now coming out that, despite the fact that she only worked for the district for two years, she left with a ridiculously good deal: she was paid for unused......

A heavy bag left on the sidewalk on Broad Street early yesterday morning led to the street being closed between Spring Garden and Callowhill, and to the evacuation of the school district's administration building. The bomb squad came and blew up the bag at 8:30AM yesterday. There's no official word as to whether the bag actually contained explosives, but from what the Inquirer was able to dig up, it sounds like it was just......

Tonight at the Festival Pier, catch Ben Kweller with Guster. We love his latest self-titled album, and can't resist the video for "Penny on a Track," which features his "Bubbie" dancing her heart out to the song. Above is a video called "Sundress," which we thought was appropriate given the gorgeousness of today. This Phillyist has a special place in her heart for Kweller, whose last CD, specifically the song "My Apartment," got her......

Finished within the last year, this newly-landscaped part of Fairmount Park lies between the Waterworks Restaurant and the Spring Garden Street Bridge, from which the photo was taken. Photo by author, SkyscraperSunset.com, July 10, 2007.......

As part of an inspection for damage, some vaults have been opened - for the first time in a very long time - at Christ Church Burial Ground at Fifth and Arch Streets, "the resting place of more than 4,000 prominent Philadelphians, including Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence." The vaults look quite a bit different than expected, and new sketches will have to be drawn. The PA budget......

Proofreading Philly tries to capture typos, wordos, and all other kinds of grammatical mistakes that we see around the city. But we need your help! Email photos to us from your computer or your phone, and show the city that you care about good grammar. Phillyist reader The High Strung Loner sent us the above picture. Knowing that no explanation was necessary for this one, he didn't leave one. Only a location. "Front and Spring......

We saw a print ad for this place some time ago, but had more or less forgotten about it until we walked past this morning. (If memory serves, the ad actually promised a FREE HAND car wash with every lube, which was even better.) You can't tell from the picture, but the arrows are actually pointing to the back of the building. (Get it? Entrance in the rear?) We assume that the Hand Wash 'N'......

The spring concert season is upon us. From choral, to avant-garde chamber groups, many local groups seem to have something to play. In addition, Bach-o-rama (aka the Bach Festival of Philadelphia) still continues, with a full list of events here. Tuesday The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Emanuel Ax, piano in an evening of Beethoven and Schumann. If you’ve never heard Beethoven’s Appassionata in performance, now is your chance. Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 8 PM;......

Pete Yorn Giveaway
3/9/07-3/14/07...

Dear William Penn: I just wanted to take a moment to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for creating Philadelphia's grid system all those years ago. You see, I've had occasion, lately, to do a lot of walking around. A lot of walking around. That's what unemployment, and the subsequent job hunt, does to a person. (Mercifully, I haven't needed to get any shoes repaired as a result. Yet.) I've always loved walking......

Scissor Sisters Prize Pack Giveaway
2/19/07-2/23/07...

There could be more problems for those Philly casinos than just a ballot question: one of the companies that won a license here was also pursuing a site in Atlantic City, a big no-no as far as Pennsylvania officials are concerned. Why were the roads in Philly such a mess these past few days? The forecast called for more ice than snow, so the plows didn't get started until late. On Wednesday, Mayor Street......

Is it First Friday again already? We had so much fun at the last one that we're not sure what time we finally got home. We do remember drinking plenty of wine and eating plenty of cheese. We even remember making some impulse purchases. Oh, and fawning over an artist that we've always admired, thereby probably frightening her a good deal. This month, we're going to try schmoozing first, drinking later, and see how that......

The early winter lull is almost over. There are certainly some interesting concerts this week, but the real winter season is on hold for another week. Friday Catch AVA’s concert version of Von Weber’s (pictured at left) Der Freischütz, an opera that explores what happens when peasants and magic collide. Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center; 7:30 PM; $48 Like Ives? Violinist Soovin Kim and pianist Jeremy Denk will play a program of all Ives violin......